A Journey to Freedom
by princ3ssch3rri3bl0ss0m724
Summary: [RaixKim] Through the dangerous and good times, Jermaine leads Raimundo, Kimiko, and Omi, some runaway slaves, to a new home, while tricking and lying to the bounty hunter, Clay.
1. Jermaine's POV

**_(A/N:) I asked permission to type this story, so don't send messages about how somebody is already writing one like this!!!_**

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I was one of the volunteers at The First African Baptist Church. The congregation was leaving and stepping over little holes on the ground that we said over and over again were decorations. They really weren't. When all that was left was the selected volunteers, we opened the floor boards and let out a Japanese girl, a Portuguese boy, and a Chinese boy.

"Thank-you for making an exception," the girl said with a beautiful smile. Her ragged clothes made her really look like what she was. A runaway slave.

"Yea, you saved us from picking the seeds out of cotton for the rest of our lives," the Chinese boy bowed. He didn't have a shirt on, so it was easy to tell, when you were facing his back, that he had been majorly mistreated.

The last boy was quiet. He had scares all over him. He didn't have a shirt on either, but his was stronger and taller than the others. Maybe it was because he was older and had to go through more suffering consequences. He smiled at me. He was probably very grateful. We took them into another room to give them a feast. The ate a lot of the food. I smiled. They probably hadn't eaten in while.

"Jermaine," another volunteer, named Tamaqua, started, "do you think they know what the songs and lights mean, and what the passwords are?"

"Huh?" the Japanese girl's split ended hair fell into her face.

"Wade in the water means, go into the water, and the other songs are easy to figure out," I said with a smile.

"And the lights and passwords?" she asked.

"One light means hide, and two lights mean keep going. And the passwords change a lot, and not many places use them. It just depends on your route.

"That's stupid," I heard the Portuguese boy say.

"You're a runaway slave; most of these 'stupid' things are used to distract white men from the meaning!" I stood up.

"Well, I can find the way on my own!" he stood up, too.

"Raimundo, you know as much as me and Omi do that we need this help and that we are completely grateful for it!" the Japanese girl said trying to get Raimundo the sit down.

"Well, Kimiko, that's the thing, if the first runaways didn't need help, then we don't either!" he walked off leaving her to just sit their astonished.

"Wait!" Tamaqua ran up to him. "If you are just going to walk out of here like you can, you'd need the proper clothes. You could probably pass as a Spanish man."

"I'm not leaving without Kimiko and Omi," he said, putting his hands into fists. It would be hard for Kimiko and Omi. There are few Asians that bought their freedom, so they had to have an ID if they did. I even have an ID. I noticed they'd be checked everywhere they go for an ID and be caught fairly easily.

"Good," I said. I heard a knock on the congregation's room door. I walked out side the room and ran to the exit/entry door. I opened it and there was a fat and tall white man standing their.

"Do you got any runaways?" he asked.

"No, sir, we get some blacks who bought freedom," I said, trying to make it seem like I never had an education. It was against the law, but white men were stupid.

"Well, I see even the ones who bought freedom still don't have an education," he smirked.

"Our next group come in a while," I said.

"Well, I'll be off then," his smirk grew bigger and he tipped his hat and walked off.

"Sir, what your name?" I asked before he really had a chance to get a foot away.

"I'm Clay, and you are?" he replied.

"I'm Jermaine," I said.

"I heard you bought your freedom. Where'd ya get the money?" he turned back around.

"A kind man had left it at my door step in a package," I said.

"Yea, who was the man who sent it to you?" he asked.

"Somebody by the name of Henry Anderson," I replied.

"I heard he was your father, but he died a few days after he shipped off the package," his smirk had completely faded.

"Ain't it a nice day? Well, I hope you have one. Good-bye," I closed the door and went back into the room where the runaways were. "There's a slave catcher in town."

"What's his name?" Tamaqua asked.

"Clay," I said.

"Oowee, that might be a hard one to get around," another volunteer said.

"Possibly," Kimiko sighed.

"It's okay," Omi tried to hug her, but she didn't hug back.

"Come on, we can do this," Raimundo gave Omi and Kimiko a big hug. They rubbed past some of his bad scars but he didn't seem to care.

"Thanks, you guys," Kimiko smiled.

"It's okay," Raimundo let go of Omi and hugged Kimiko tighter.

"Jermaine," Tamaqua said, "I think you might have to help 'em."

"Huh?" I asked.

"You know as well as I do that it might be hard for them. And they need to get to Canada, which will take months to get to, even without stopping at all," she said.

"Fine," I said.

Late that night after Raimundo, Kimiko, and Omi had finished resting, we ran out of the church and headed towards a night steamboat that travels up the Savannah River and drops us off at the edge of South Carolina. It was a special boat run by some secret members of the Save the Slaves Society **_(A/N: I just made that up)_**. The SSS is very important. Without it, nobody would help slaves to freedom. These white men were different that others. They were nice and helped us load our stuff and moved quickly up the stream. There were a lot of other slaves there, too. Mostly going in different routes. Some were from farther south and a few just found out they were pregnant, meaning a longer trip, to make sure the babies don't die. Raimundo made sure Kimiko didn't freeze. He didn't mind the cold. I didn't know why, though. I wish I did. He had his arms around her and she fell asleep, with her head in his chest. I guess they were in love. I saw how Omi was just sitting there all by himself. I sat with him. We watched as the scenery passed by, and slave cabins were quiet, except for a few singing "Wade in the Water" out of boredom, probably. I smiled as Raimundo kissed Kimiko on the top of her head. He would probably do anything for her. Go back to slavery is probably not one of them. I lied down, and Omi did, too. Raimundo lied down as well, but more carefully to make sure Kimiko didn't wake up. "I think this is the beginning of a whole new life," I said to Omi and Raimundo. They nodded with smiles on their faces. I fell to sleep quickly as the boat began to pick up more speed.

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**_(A/N:) Please, REVIEW! HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT!_**


	2. Boat Ride to Pregnancy

**_(A/N:) Yup, weird chapter title...anyways, ENJOY!_**

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The sun shone into my eyes after I opened them. Raimundo snuggled me closer every few seconds. I smiled. I saw Omi and Jermaine next to us. _Boys and their sleep_, I thought to myself. I got out of Raimundo's grasp so I could talk to some ranaway slave girls.

"Hello," I said to a crying girl about my age.

"Hello," she replied.

"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting down next to her.

"I just found out I was pregnant," she kinda laughed.

"Who's the lucky father?" I slightly giggled.

"He's right over there," she pointed to a tall black man that was still asleep.

"I wish I was pregnant," I sighed as I looked over to Raimundo.

"Let's hope after you get your freedom. It's gonna take years until George and I could probably get to Canada," the girl sighed.

"Raimundo said a week ago that he was planning to runaway, so he could get a job and could marry me. I was completely shocked by that. I liked him a lot and I still do. We were just in the heat of the moment and then boom. I might be pregnant, but might not. I still don't know," I sighed.

"That's kinda like what George said," she laughed.

"I just can't resist a man like that," another girl joined the conversation.

"What girl can't!" I laughed.

I looked at the girl who just joined the conversation. She had a huge and stiff stomach. I guess she had been pregnant.

"Oh, great, the little fella' won't leave me alone," she giggled as she rested her hand on her large stomach.

"What will you name it if it's a girl?" I asked curiously.

"You two promise you won't tell?" she asked quietly.

"Promise," we said simultaneously.

"I want to name her Linda," she giggled.

"So cute!" the first girl giggled along.

"Yes, it is!" I giggled, too.

"And if it's a boy, I would name it…after Marco. The one who cursed me with the little monster!" we all giggled to death at this.

"What's so funny?" Raimundo came up to us.

"Rai!" I smiled. I stood up and gave him a big hug.

"Oh no, you're pregnant!" he joked.

"No, I'm not," I let go and sat down.

"Okay?" he seemed kinda confused and sat down, too.

"Have you told George, yet?" the second girl asked the first.

"No," she sighed.

"Told him what?" Raimundo asked.

"Shhh!" we shushed him.

"Okay?" he seemed really confused.

George began to walk over and he sat down next to the first girl, "Tanya, hey."

"George…I'm…pregnant," she said the last word quickly and it was hard to make out.

"Really?" he asked like he was surprised.

"Really," Tanya began to cry.

"Don't cry. It's okay. I still love you," he hugged.

I sighed of happiness.

Raimundo was completely confused.

"Hey, Angela," Marco came over and rested his hand on the second girl's stomach.

"Hi," she giggled.

"Gosh, the little tyke is really hyper today," he laughed.

"Yea," she was still giggling.

"I don't get this at all," Raimundo shook his head.

All of us just glared at him.

"What? I didn't do anything, yet!" he pouted.

"Raimundo, shut up," I said.

"Kimiko, are you PMS-ing?" I just about blew a gasket at this.

"RAIMUNDO!" I stood up and looked down upon him.

"Uh-oh," Raimundo turned around and began to crawl away.

"Well, you can sure scare the guy who might have made you pregnant," Tanya said sadly.

I ran after Raimundo. When he was back in the spot where we fell asleep, he turned over and I jumped on top of him, "I'm sorry."

"I'm the one that should be sorry," Raimundo laughed.

"Don't ever leave me again," I said into his chest.

"I won't," he kissed me on the forehead.

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**_(A/N:) There you have it, chapter 2! YAY! Please, review!_**


	3. Almost Caught

_**(A/N:) YAY! I AM UPDATING! My teachers put a TON of homework on me XP! I hate homework! My math teacher gave us stuff we haven't done since the fourth grade, and my brain hurts really bad! Also, my refrigerator smells bad, too! EEW!**_

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I ran my fingers through Kimiko's greasy hair. We hadn't had a bath in ages. The boat had stopped and it was late at night. Everybody got off and all went in different directions. Nobody even turned back to say "good-bye" to their new friends, they were too afraid of the bounty hunters. We quickly ran in a direction that few of the runaways were taking. We ran quickly and quietly. I could barely see. I was leading Kimiko through so she wouldn't get hurt. I crashed into a few trees as I tried to follow Omi and Jermaine, but I was alright. As we entered the meadow that was outside the forest, we saw a small cabin that had one lamp set at the window. We quickly ran back into the woods and climbed some trees to hide in.

"Hello!" we heard from below. Kimiko held onto my hand and rested her other hand on my shoulder.

"If thar any slaves out here, I'm gonna getcha!" the voice yelled.

"Raimundo," Kimiko whispered softly, "I'm scared."

"It's okay," I whispered back in reply. "If he climbs up here, I'll personally kick his butt just for you."

Kimiko kissed my cheek, "I love you. A lot."

"Stop reading my mind and speaking my thoughts. Come up with your own thoughts, woman," I teased.

We stayed quiet for a while and waited for the voice to trail off, but he kept on yelling that he was going to get us back to our owners. Then all of a sudden, I noticed the other slaves had disappeared a while ago. They probably found a way around this guy. We heard soft leaf crunching noises and began to climb down the trees. I hugged Kimiko tightly once we reached the ground.

"Raimundo, we have to be careful," Omi stated. "Who knows if the person went too far."

I nodded. We ran back out of the forest and the cabin had two lamps out side of it now. We ran as fast as we could to get to the next rest stop. We stopped at the edge of creek on the other side of another forest that we went through.

"All we have to do is get across this creek and we have one mile left," Jermaine said.

"Gosh, we have been running for hours," Kimiko yawned.

"Don't worry, we're almost there," I said as Omi stepped to the other side of the creek.

We followed him and ran the next mile with excitement of sleeping in a safe place with warm food. When we reached the small house, there was a young woman waiting outside for us, as if somebody had told we were coming.

"Hello," she smiled sweetly. I couldn't really see her, but I could just tell she was slightly shorter than Kimiko.

"Hello," Jermaine replied.

"Well, come in! There is plenty food for all of you," she looked at me, then quickly turned around. She opened her door and the light flooded the area and I could see what she looked like. She had short red hair, and she was in a simple brown dress and a plain white apron.

I followed the others in.

"Whoa, you two boys sure have some nasty scars," she winced as we sat down.

"Rai got most of his from taking the blame for me," Kimiko hugged me tightly.

"By the way, I'm Tara, who are all of you?" she looked into my eyes, as if she was only asking me.

"I'm Raimundo, this is Kimiko, that's Omi, and over there is Jermaine," I said.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you four," she curtsied.

"No, the pleasure is all mine," I said politely and bowed in reply.

"You sure are a charmer," I heard her whisper under her breath.

"Raimundo, can you please pass the bread?" Kimiko asked me.

"Yes," I passed her the bread. Tara just sat there the whole time staring at me.

"…And that's how we found a rat in the church prayer idea box," Jermaine was telling us hilarious times that the church had. But, it seemed like Tara was to busy paying attention to me to hear the funny parts.

"Uh…where's the outhouse?" I asked beginning to sweet form all this pressure being put on me.

"I'll show you," Tara smiled and stood up. She motioned for me to follow her out the back door. We walked outside and I saw the out house with the little light from the now rising sun.

"Wait," she said as I began to run to the out house.

"What?" I turned around.

"YourreallyreallyhandsomeandIwantyoutostayhere!" she said to quick for me to really understand.

"Huh?" I was totally confused. I just shrugged and quickly ran to the out house before she could say it again slower.

I really didn't have to go. I just stood in the smelly and cramped shed. I sighed. I heard a knock on the door.

"Is everything alright?" Tara asked. I looked around for a way to escape but didn't find one.

"Hello?" she asked again. She opened the door and saw me standing there. "You didn't have to go, did ya?"

"No. I just needed an excuse to-" I began but she cut me off.

"Get away from the pressure?"

"Yes! Have you been a position like that before?"

"Sort of."

"Wow, that's a relief! Oh, and by the way, the way you were staring at me was kinda creepy, so please just don't do that."

"Oh. Okay. I guess you didn't even hear a word I said before I ran off, then," she sighed sadly.

"Raimundo!" Kimiko called from the house. I ran away from Tara and gave Kimiko a big hug.

"I love you," I said happily.

"I love you, too," Kimiko hugged me back.

"Let's go back and eat," Tara said, still with a sad tone.

"Sure," Kimiko stared into my eyes, while I stared back into hers.

We walked back inside and sat down in our seats form earlier.

"Well, that was delicious," Jermaine laughed.

"Thank-you," Tara said plainly.

"Huh? Why are you so sad?" Kimiko asked.

"Uh, it's nothing. It's nothing, I mean it," Tara said.

"Well, we better get some rest. We'll leave as soon as it's dark," Jermaine said.

"Here you go," Tara led us to two rooms. I guess she was only expecting two slaves, but got stuck with four. Kimiko went into to one room. I followed her of course. There was a queen sized bed with a beautiful comforter on it. Kimiko began to get under it until I said something.

"Nah-uh-uh. You forgot to tuck in your lover," I smirked.

Kimiko sighed, for this was the thousandth time I made her do this. I stood next to the bed and she undid the covers for me. I got and she pulled the covers over me until it reached my collar bone. She kissed me on the lips sweetly and said, "Good night."

"I love you," I said as she walked around to the other side of the bed. She got undid the covers and go into the bed. I pulled them up to her collar bone. She turned around so she wasn't facing me and put my arms around her waist and pulled her close to me. "Did you forget something?"

"I love you," she said sleepily.

"No, not that, something else," I smirked.

"And I will always love you and I will have your kids, no matter how many you want," she said with a sigh.

"Good. You're are the best almost wife I've ever had," I said.;

"I'm the only one you had," she sighed.

"Which means I have the best taste in woman," I kissed her on the back of the head.

"Everybody already knows that," she giggled.

"Men would die to even have you as just a friend," I chuckled.

"Shut up, so I can go to sleep," she whined.

I did as she said and I slowly fell asleep.

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**_(A/N:) Please, REVIEW!_**


	4. Another House, Another Runaway

**_(A/N:) I don't have Omi talking in this much...and this is his POV...oops!_**

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I smiled as soon as I woke up. It was already night time, and we were going to be another step closer to Canada by the time it's dawn. I got out of bed and rubbed my bald head.

"Omi, just a few more moths, and we're there!" Jermaine got up as well.

"What's taking you guys so long?" Kimiko walked in, with Raimundo behind her.

"We're coming," Jermaine and I walked up to them and we began to leave the house. Tara waved good bye, after she gave us some left overs from the night before. We ran outside and ran into the night, trying to get to the next stop as soon as possible. We went across bridges, over ditches, through forests, and it also began to rain on the way there, as well. As soon as we got to the next stop, we saw fire coming out of the chimney. Jermaine knocked on the door and the door opened to reveal a very tall and scary looking white man.

"I see you're here a little early. Dinner is almost ready. My wife is best cook in the northern part of South Carolina. Make yourselves at home," he smiled. A smile child ran up to us as soon as we entered.

"Hello," she smiled.

"Hello," Raimundo bent down so he was eyelevel with her.

"Wow, you aren't like the slaves the usually come here," the little girl blinked.

"Don't worry," Raimundo picked the little girl up, "we won't bite."

The little girl giggled as Raimundo tickled her tummy.

"Aren't you the cutest little thing?" Kimiko cooed.

"Thank-you! _Everybody_ says that about me," the little girl giggled.

"Angela, you should be in bed," a beautiful young woman grabbed the girl from Raimundo's grasp and carried her towards the stairs.

"But Dianna! They are my new friends! I want to stay down there!" Angela whined.

"Little sister, you know that you have work to do tomorrow! I'm going to Pennsylvania, so you have to be the best daughter Mother and Father had ever had until it's your turn to go get married," Dianna said.

"Oh, Dianna, don't be such a perfectionist," an older woman said, who was making the dinner.

"But, Mother, she has to go to sleep!" Dianna complained.

"Mommy, please let me stay up late! The slaves are nice, and they think I'm cute and adorable!" Angela begged.

"Of course you can, sweetie!" their mother smiled.

Angela stuck her tongue out at Dianna, as she set the little girl down. Angela ran off and hugged Raimundo's leg.

"Whoa!" Raimundo said after Angela embraced his leg.

"You are the nicest slaves I have ever met! Are you and that girl married?" Angela looked up and Raimundo's face.

"We will be soon," Raimundo picked up Angela and held her close.

"Wow! My sister is getting married to some guy in pencil-vain-ya, and she never met him before," Angela said.

"Well, it's lucky I found true love," Raimundo glanced over to Kimiko, who blushed when he said that.

"Well, it's my duty to marry a rich man to bring some money into this poor family," Dianna said.

"No it's not! You just want to have the money you think you need, but then you'll find out, wealth isn't all it's cracked up to be," Kimiko smiled.

"Dinner is served!" Dianna and Angela's mother sang.

Everybody sat around the table and stuffed their faces with delicious food. But, all of a sudden, they heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" the father called. I froze, knowing it was probably a slave catcher.

"It's a person in need, sir," it sounded like a black slave.

"Come on in!" he opened the door and smiled.

"Thank-you, sir," she smiled. She sat down next to Kimiko and smiled.

"Hello, I'm Kimiko," Kimiko smiled.

"I'm Omi," I said.

"I am Jermaine," Jermaine flashed his pearly whites.

"I'm Raimundo," Raimundo grinned.

"I'm Yolanda," she smiled.

"I'm Dianna, and that little girl right there, is my pest of a sister," Dianna and Angela giggled.

"Pleased to meet you all," Yolanda smiled, again.

"Well," the mother said after dinner was over, "time for bed everybody."

Raimundo and Kimiko shared a room, again, while I shared with Jermaine. Yolanda had a room to herself and we all fell asleep in a blink of a eye…I think.

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**_(A/N:) Please review!_**


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